The present invention relates to an improvement of a spinning reel for fishing having a drag mechanism for applying a braking force to a spool.
To facilitate fishing, it is known that a drag mechanism in the spinning reel can be immediately changed from a state in which drag is actuated to a second state in which the spool of the reel is freely rotatable. Japanese Unexamined Publication No. sho-61-274638 disclosed such a mechanism.
In the former system, however, there have been problems in that since a cylindrical shaft engageable/disengageable with/from a braking cylinder having a drag mechanism is slid directly by an operation lever so as to engage/disengage with/from the braking cylinder, in the case where the drag mechanism is to be changed over to return into a drag-actuated state from a spool-free state by rotational operation of a handle, if the engagement position of engagement holes of the cylindrical shaft does not accord with that of engagement positions of the braking cylinder, an excessive force is exerted onto the operation lever and the engagement portions so that the returning change-over operation cannot be smoothly and lightly performed. Since the cylindrical shaft is directly pressed by a front end portion of the operation lever so as to slide, the efficiency of transmission is poor and therefore the sliding operation of the operation lever cannot be smoothly performed.
In the latter system, on the other hand, there has been a problem in that since change-over is performed by making an operation lever cause a lock member to be radially engaged/disengaged with/from a part of ratchet teeth provided on the outer circumference of a braking cylinder having a drag mechanism, the strength and durability of engagement portions of the lock member decrease and a change-over mechanism becomes large in size in the radial direction.